Skip to main content

Learning how to ride a bike

I learned how to ride a bike long ago. I remember my Dad taking the training wheels off that bike on the 1st nice spring day (usually occuring in April back when the Midwest actually got springtime). He held on to my bike, told me he wouldn't let go, and after a few seconds -- he let go and I was on my own!

I remember that invigorating feeling of, "Holy crap, I'm doing this on my own! I'm really doing this!" and then that stark realization of, "Oh crap, how do I stop?!?!".

Well, over a decade later, I went through this process again last night. My new bike came in the mail -- and a friend of mine has a cousin who happens to be quite the "bicycle guru". He graciously assembled my new bike for me, adjusted it, and had me test ride it up and down the street so we could adjust the handle bars and seat properly.

Except there's one small problem.....my bike doesn't have pedals. It had these "clipless" little stubs you install (which cost a very pretty penny, may I add) And my cycling shoes have cleats that clip in.

In order to pedal, you have to clip the cleat on the bottom of your shoe into this torture device. And in order to get out of it, one much cock their foot to the side and "clip out". As you can see......this takes coordination. If you know anything about me as a general person, you know that coordination and Abby do not go together!

So there I was, in the middle of that street....with my friend's cousin (whom I just met) pushing me (a grown woman) down the street. Coaching me, "You've got this! Now clip your left foot in! There you go!"  I'm sure he hasn't done this since his own daughter's learned to ride their bikes. All I could think was, "I look and feel like such a tool right now."

Although I've known how to ride a bike for many years, getting serious about road biking is seriously like learning how to ride a bike again! It has been a humbling process. Last week when I purchased my shoes -- that have these zip-tie-like straps, I had to ask the sales associate at the store to help me get my shoe off.

Humbling.

However, I can already say it's totally worth it. I love that 20 miles can be covered in 1 1/2 hours. I adore the wind in my face. I'll admit that I feel like a badass at the stoplight, making a left turn, with the cars, on a bike. (Although, it is frightening at times and most of my routes are planned around not making left turns.) And I giggle like a little girl laugh at how ridiculous I look in my spandex shorts with the butt-padding.

So that's my "adventure" for the week! If you can call that an adventure? Oh, and I got certified to resuscitate newborns in emergency deliveries! Basically, I get another card to put in my file and another group of letters to put on my resume! But it does give me a little comfort to be more educated on this matter.

Comments

Marlys said…
I admire you for learning a new sport! I think I will stick to a regular bike as road biking doesn't sound easy! Do you wear knee pads in case you fall? I'm sure that practice will make perfect! Enjoy the wind in your face!
Marlys said…
And by the way, spring arrived today! It is supposed to get to 60 degrees! And where the snow is melting, we see green grass! Yikes, that means MOWING will soon follow!
Lisa's Yarns said…
You are learning lots by taking on this sport! It is humbling but I am glad you have friends to help you out. I have never been on a road bike, but I did ride the cruisers quite a bit in Minneapolis through the bike program and I got to the point where I was pretty comfortable in traffic, so that is good. I def avoided left turns as much as i could though or only did them at certain intersections!

Popular posts from this blog

One Confused Lady

Yesterday morning was packed with a session of cross training.....rushed home to shower and get professional-looking....headed across town for an interview.....kicked butt at my interview...."bopped" over to our house to see the progress of the build......headed to the "design center" to sign more paperwork.... (Side note: I cannot get over just how much paperwork is involved in building a house. Holy Hannah. And we haven't even closed !!! Iy-yi-yi....Those lovely people in history who got law-suit-happy.....God bless 'em.) Yesterday was a good day! So here's a little humor for your Thursday. A little thought. A little depth.....( A little cynical rant ) Afterwards, I decided to head to one of my favorite places to peruse.... Target. But my experience at Target was far from fun, relaxing, or pleasant. Just confusing. Loud. Crazy. Despite many screaming children-temper tantrums.... Which is common and un-escapable. Although screaming chi...

A weekend of the great outdoors

As I am preparing for my return to the real world tomorrow, I feel a strong sense of dread. As I won't have a weekend or free week for a long while! Instead of focusing on that.......I'm sharing a few snapshots from our awesome weekend! This weekend we were in Big Lake, AZ -- which is about 20 miles from the New Mexico border (just 5 1/2 hours from our house). (last weekend we were in Parker Canyon...which I will blog about another day) We camped from Friday-Monday, which was the perfect length of time. The temperatures were a great escape from hot Tucson. In fact...it was VERY cold at night. It was in the low 30's at night, 60's during the day. The trout fishing was incredible. Here's a few snapshots: Home Sweet Home for the weekend! Look at the giant tree I cut down!!! Wow!! (Okay, this was posed...) But...Ryan did teach me how to use a wood-saw! There were tons of dead/fallen trees lying around. So we cut all our firewood for the weekend! I felt very ...

Ten on Tuesday!

1. If you could travel back in time, would you? What decade would you visit? I would. I think I'd visit the 50's, just for a week - for it'd probably get really old. Sometimes... I just want to wear cute house dresses and aprons. And the only care in the world would be cooking and cleaning and being an all-star housewife. 2. What was your best Halloween costume? (fun to make? most creative?) Probably the clown costumes my Mom sewed when I was young. They were amazing. Also, an occasion in college when all the girls hit the frats dressed up as sexy nurses, naughty cops, and other profanities....I taped purple balloons all over my body and went as a "Bunch of Grapes". Classy. 3. Do you like your name? If you weren't called by your name, what would you want to be called? I would love my name. But everyone seems to think it's cool to name their dogs Abby these days too. I know so many people who are like "Your name is Abby? Oh cool! That'...